After being delayed on Friday night because the women’s soccer match went into overtime, the women’s soccer team got off to a slow start against the Western Carolina Catamounts.

The Bucs came out with renewed energy in the second half, leading them to a 3-1 win.

At the 19:47 mark, Western Carolina took a 1-0 lead against ETSU after the ball was brought up the left side and shot to right corner to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.

Just before halftime, ETSU was able to answer back with a goal by Emily McKerlie. This was McKerlie’s first goal of the season, with Pauline Vienne making the assist.

At the 80:17 mark, Molly Collision made a long pass to Sarah Zadrazil, who chipped it over the goalkeeper in the corner for her fifth goal of the season. This gave the Bucs a 2-1 lead.

In the 84th minute of the match, Vienne made a long pass to Simona Koren, who juked the goalkeeper for her seventh goal of the season, putting the Bucs up 3-1.

ETSU’s goalkeeper Jasmine Elliot had two saves in the match, including a diving save to her right after a shot by Amanda Schwartz. This save was considered the turning point in the match.

Both of Schwartz’s saves came in the second half of play.

“We fought back after they scored first, and it’s always going to be an uphill battle when the match starts out like it did,” said Elliot.

ETSU outshot Western Carolina 9-5, with both teams earning two saves in the match.

Six of ETSU’s nine shots came in the second half.

ETSU had four corner kicks in the match, while Western Carolina had six. Vienne recorded her first multi-assist match of the season with two assists.

Both teams substituted four players during the match. ETSU had six fouls in the match and just one offsides call, while Western Carolina had eight fouls and three offsides calls.

In the 52nd minute of play, Western Carolina’s Kelly Pannell was issued a yellow card, which was the second yellow card of the match.

The first came in the 37th minute, when Collinson was issued a yellow card.

“Western Carolina is always a tough team to play, so we knew we would have to come prepared for a difficult conference matchup,” said ETSU coach Adam Sayers. “Both teams defended very well, but we knew if we just kept attacking and moving the ball across the field that we would get an opening.”

ETSU improved to 8-4 and remain undefeated with a 3-0 record in the Southern Conference.

The Bucs will play their next match against the Mercer Bears on Oct. 9.

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  • Alex Baker

    Alex Baker is a senior majoring in journalism. Originally from Knoxville, he graduated from Bearden High School in 2011. Baker enjoys watching sports and is a big fan of horse racing. He has even attended the Kentucky Derby several times. He enjoys writing as a creative outlet and has several family members in the journalism business.

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